Indicator device for controlling



Nov. 13, 1951 F. K. H. NALLINGER 2,574,583

INDICATOR DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE PERIOD OF OPERATION OF ENGINESFiled July 28, 1950 INVENTOR Fly. 2

FmaumcH KH WALL/Naif? 5 MMM Patented Nov. 13, 1951 INDICATOR DEVICE FORCONTROLHNG THE, PERIOD OF OPERATION OF GIN ES Friedrich K. H. Nallinger,Stuttgart, Germany Application July 28, 1950, SerialNo. 176,345 InGermany June 29, 1949 7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to elapsed time indicating devices andparticularly to such devices for registering and accumulating the timeof operation of engines, particularly internal combustion engines.

The invention relates to such an indicator device, which isdistinguished by simplicity in operation, and by accuracy andreliability, and which does not require special attendance. Through theinvention above all the possibility is given to diminish the wear andtear on the engine and to increase its life by assuring overhaul, oilreplacement, etc., in good time.

In accordance with the invention, it is an important characteristic ofthe invention that the starting and stopping of the counter is doneautom'atically by the engine. Furthermore, also the winding of theclockwork takes place automatically, so that an incorrect indication asconsequence of 'forgetfulness in winding is pre-' vented. The powerrequired for the starting and stopping or the winding is created by theengine itself or made effective in dependence upon the operation ofsame.

Pneumatic or hydraulic auxiliary power can be utilized herefor, forexample the vacuum in the intake conduit of the engine, the lubricatingoil pressure, the cooling water pressure or the like, an electric orelectro-magnetic auxiliary power, for example the current delivered by a0 generator or the ignition current of an engine Working with ignitionfrom other sources or another auxiliary power.

The invention is not restricted to engines in the narrow sense, but itcan also be utilized with other machines or devices.

Further characteristics and details of the invention are to be takenfrom the following description of several examples of construction,taken in connection with the attached drawings; wherein Figure 1illustrates diagrammatically a device operated by the vacuum of theengine; and

Figure 2 illustrates diagrammatically such a device operated by anelectric current for winding as well as for starting or stopping acounter clockwork controlling the period of ope-ration.

In accordance with Figure 1, the container 3 is provided with themembrane 4 (or a cylinder and piston) constituting a pressure responsivedevice which is connected with 'a pipe 5 which leads to the intake pipeof an engine (not shown) (for example, between the throttle valve andthe engine itself). The membrane 4 has connected thereto a lever 6 whichoperates a stop,

for example, a brake or c-ut-ofi lever 8, over a system of rods 1, andalso operates the winding mechanism of the clockwork. The brake orcutoff lever 8 acts hereby upon any suitable part of the clockwork, forexample on the anchor H of the escapement working together with theescapement wheel H] of the balance wheel (not shown) which is under theeffect of the spring [-2.

On the rod 9 which operates the winding mechanism of the clockwork,provision is made for a rack i3, which is coupled with the rod 9 bysprings l4 and I5, and in its motion to and fro drives a pinion IS inone or the other direction of rotation. The latter is in suitable driveconnection with the winding shaft which winds the spring for theescapemen't wheel 'll over a one way drive connection [1.

The counter itself is, in known manner, driven in any suitable manner bythe clockwork. -I-n the example of construction in accordance withFigure 1-, this is, for example, eiiected by means of a pawl and ratchet20, 2|, driven by a worm gear I 8 and a crank 19, which drives theindividual pinions for the reading of the operating In the drawing, thetransmission from one counter wheel to the following is' by means of apair of cam or toothed wheels 22, 23, working together in intermittentmanner (prefer ably with a stop lever 24 for holding the toothed wheel25 during its rest periods), is indicated diagrammatically.

The operation in accordance with Figure 1 is as follows:

Upon starting the engine (for example, a carburetor, Diesel or otherengine), a vacuum is created in the intake pipe thereof which continuesduring operation of the engine but fluctuates in amplitude periodicallyor irregularly during the operation.

The membrane 4 is hereby strained to the left (possibly against theaction of a spring). which effects oscillation of the lever B incorresponding direction. Hereby the brake or cutofi? lever 8 is-swungfrom its full line position, releasing the clockwork for operation.Simultaneously the rod '9 is moved to the left taking with it the rack[3, provided that the springof the clockwork is entirely or partiallyslack. As a result of the movement of the rack [3 to the left, thepinion i6 is taken with it in a "counterclockwise direction and therebywinds up the clockwork over the freewheel "ll. If the vacuum slackens-inthe membrane box 3, the rack [3 can return to the right under the effectof the spring :4 and the pinion lBrotates clockwise, while the shaft ofthe clockwork spring is held in the position to which it was woundpreviously by means of an appropriate holding dog (not shown). When theengine is started and the membrane 4 is strained while the spring of theclockwork is at full tension, the movement of the rod 9 to the left willonly effect a compression of the spring IS without the rack l3 beingtaken with it. The springs l4 and I5 thus act to prevent over-winding ofthe clockwork spring.

When the engine is stopped, the vacuum disappears and the brake orcut-off lever 8 returns to a position to stop the clockwork. If desired,a special friction brake, acting on one shaft of the clockwork, can beused for the starting and stopping of the clockwork.

In the example of construction in accordance with Figure 2, theterminals 25 serve for connection with a circuit of the engine to becontrolled,

which is only energized during the period of operation of the engine,for example, the circuit of a generator, the ignition circuit or thecircuit of another electric aggregate suitable for this purpose. Thecurrent is at first conducted from the left terminal to a coil '26 whichadjusts the solenoid armature 21 to the left, as soon as the coil 26 isenergized. From the coil 26 the circuit leads to the'contact 28 of acontact pair 28, 29, one of which in turn is in connection with theright terminal by means of a change-over switch arm 30. Between thecontacts 28 and 29 a secand coil 3| is inserted which, when energized,moves the solenoid armature 32 to the left. The armature 2? acts on thebrake or cut-off lever 8 which in turn acts on the clockwork part II,whereas the armature 32 swings a winding up lever 33,- which, forexample, by means of the shaft 34 and a one way clutch 35 or the like,drives the spring arbor 36 of the clockwork spring. The elapsed timeindicating hand 38 is operated by the clockwork through appropriatereduction gearing 31. The change-over switch arm 30 is furthermoreconnected, through the link shown, with a lever 39 which is coupled by atension spring 40 with a second lever 4| which In the drawing theextreme right positions of the switch 30 and of the levers 39 and 4| areshowninfull, while the extreme left positions are shown in dotted lines.The lever 4| is operated byprojections 4'2 and 43 which are located onthe .rod which is connected to the solenoid armature 32 and take withthem the lever 4| in accordance with the motion of the rod and swing itthereby into one or the other extreme position. A spring 44 draws thewinding lever 33 toward its extreme right position as soon as it isreleased by the solenoid coil 3].

The manner of operation is the following:

The device may be in the position shown in Figure 2, i. e., thechange-over switch 30 engages the contact 29. Consequently the coil 3|is included in the circuit. If now at the start of the engine current isdelivered to the circuit, both the coil 26 and the coil 3| areenergized. This causes the brake lever B to be removed from the anchorII of the escapement and thereby allowsthe clockwork to operate. At thesame time the coil 3| tends to swing the lever 33 to the left. But thiscan only be done to the extent that the spring of the clockwork isslackened or subsequently slackens. The-lever33 is therefore slowlymoved leftward in accordance with the running down of the clockworkwhereby the spring of the clockwork remains permanently at full strain.If the engine is stopped during the leftward movement of the lever 33before the lever 4| is taken so far that the spring 40 has passed thedead center position of the two levers 39, 4|, the spring 44 pulls thewinding lever 33 back in its extreme right position; the return movementof the lever 33 is made possible by the one way clutch 35 while thespring of the clockwork remains under strain by means of an appropriateholding pawl (not shown). Upon interruption of the current upon stoppingof the engine, the solenoid armature 21 is simultaneously released andthereby the further operation of the clockwork is prevented by the stoplever 8. When the current is switched on again,

the winding-up procedure and the further operation of the clockwork canthen start anew.

If the engine operates for a considerable period of time so that thelever 4| is so far moved leftward by the stop 43 that the spring 40passes the dead center of the two levers 39, 4|, then the spring 40snaps the lever 39 and simultaneously the change-over switch 30 leftwardinto the dotted line position, whereby the switch 30 changes to thecontact 28 and switches off the current for the coil 3|. The lever 33 isthen immediately swung to its extreme right final position by the spring4 3, the action of which is stronger than the opposite efiect of thespring 4 I, whereby the action described above is repeated.

As an elapsed time indicating device, in each case one or several dialscan be used with one or several hands each as is common in gas meters ora counter with indication of figures or a dial with additionalindication of figures.

The number of the hours to be indicated depends upon the purpose ofutilization in each case. Thus, for example, provision can be madeby thecounter for indication of 100, 1000 or sev eral thousands of hours.Furthermore, instead of a direct indication of time, provision can bemade for an indication of the total revolutions of a shaft of the engineor the like, whereby the indication is then purposefully carried out inthe manner that one scale line of the dial such as the last figure ofthe counter indicate or 1000 or several thousand revolutions.

Instead of the drive by an auxiliary power in any case, in particular inthe latter case of indication of numbers of revolution also a mechanicaldrive from the working engine or from the chassis or" the vehicle can beutilized, whereby the drive is executed directly with appropriatetransmission or, for example, in such a manner that the spring of theclockwork is wound up over a cam rib and the stoppage is released over afriction clutch. Also in other cases, for example,-

Eventually interference from the part of the operating personnel can beadditionally excluded-by sealing the mechanism.

I claim: y

l. A device for indicating the elapsed time of; operation of engines,comprising a counting" mechanism, a winding device for the latter, adevice for starting and stopping the counting mechanism, an auxiliaryforce device acting in dependence on the period of operation of theengine, a movable member operated by said auxiliary force device, meansconnecting the winding device with said movable member, and means bywhich the device for the starting and stopping of the counting mechanismis connected to said movable member.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which the winding device comprisesa one way drive coupling, a reciprocating member acting on said couplingin such a manner that upon the motion of the latter under the action ofthe auxiliary force in one direction, the clock mechanism is wound bythe operation of the coupling, while the coupling idles upon motion inthe other direction, and in connection with which furthermore the devicefor the starting and stopping comprises a locking member acting on theclock mechanism in such a manner that it releases the clock mechanismwhen the auxiliary force is in action and blocks the clock mechanismwhen the auxiliary force is not acting.

3. A device for indicating the elapsed time of operation of engines,comprising a counting mechanism, a winding device for the latter, adevice for starting and stopping the counting mechanism, an electriccircuit energized in dependence on the operation of the engine, in sucha manner that the device for the stopping of the counting mechanism isreleased when the circuit is energized and is brought into lockedposition when the circuit is not energized, and further means associatedwith the circuit by which the winding device is actuated in thedirection of Winding as long as the circuit is energized.

4. A device according to claim 3 in which the winding device comprises aone way drive coupling, a member setting said coupling, which memberupon motion in one direction engages the coupling and thus effects thewinding, while in the other direction of motion the coupling isreleased, and in which furthermore the means for actuating this devicecomprise a switching mechanism so that the said setting member is movedin the direction of winding to a limiting position, thereupon releasedand reset, and then again set in the winding direction.

5. A device for indicating the elapsed time of operation of an enginecomprising a spring actuated clock work including a spring arbor, acounter adapted to be driven by said clock work, disabling meansassociated with said clock work and adapted to disable the same, amechanism coordinated to the engine and adapted to be energized by thelatter While the same is running, a winding device adapted to operatesaid spring arbor and to be actuated by said mechanism, and meansconnecting said mechanism to said disabling means causing the latter todisable said clock work while said mechanism is ole-energized.

6. A device for indicating the elapsed time of operation of an enginecomprising a spring actuated clock work including a spring arbor, acounter adapted to be driven by said clock work, disabling meansassociated with said clock work and adapted to disable same, anelectromagnetic mechanism coordinated to the engine and adapted to beenergized by the latter While the same is running, a winding deviceadapted to operate said spring arbor and to be actuated by saidelectromagnetic mechanism, and means connecting said electromagneticmechanism to said disabling means causing the latter to disable saidclock work while said electromagnetic mechanism is de-energized.

"I. The combination claimed in claim 6 in which said electromagneticmechanism includes two solenoids having a common circuit.

FRIEDRICH K. H. NALLINGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,022,801 Shipman Apr. 9, 19121,083,917 Bryce Jan. 13, 1914 1,146,151 Garrett July 13, 1915 1,446,613Bush Feb. 27, 1923 1,585,806 Watson May 25, 1926 1,737,961 Ellis Dec. 3,1929 2,212,930 Cochrane Aug. 27, 1940 2,302,260 Rothwell et a1 Nov. 17,1942 2,325,312 Follender July 27, 1943

